Danielle:
I turn the music down on my player as my pace slows to a walk. Three Days Grace is rocking in my ears as I lean down on my knees and try to catch my breath. The wind died down half way through my run and now the air is warm and stagnant. A car drives by sending a short blast of a breeze by me. Sluggishly I stand and walk to the bright blue mailbox at the end of my driveway. Numbly my hands pull out the letters and magazines inside. With a resolute determination I sprint down my driveway, a good two hundred meters, and then collapse on the soft green grass next to the front steps.
Bayley comes over and with a slobbering tongue licks my cheek. “Ok ok,” I sit up quickly to keep her from licking me anymore, “I’m getting up.” Holding the mail in one hand, I scratch the big German shepherd behind the ears with my other. Man am I going to miss her when I go away. Like always when the thought of going to college comes up I get an overwhelming sense of excitement and nervousness. I bend over and give her a big kiss on the head, “I love you Bays,” then I trudge up the steps and into the mudroom. Carefully I kick off my shoes before going into the kitchen, where I plop the mail down on the table. Stepping left I grab the refrigerator handle and yank it open, smiling at the acceptance letter from the University of Rochester that is hanging on the door, and grab a bottle of Poland Spring water.
Christopher:
The Facebook homepage flashes on my screen right before I click the ‘new tab’ button. In the URL line I type ‘youtube.com’ and wait for that page to pop up. Then I search ‘university of rochester midnight ramblers’. Scrolling down just a little ways I click on the ‘I Write Sins Not Tragedies’ video and then flip back to my Facebook tab and sign in.
Quickly I zip through the news feed and then go to my profile page. In the ‘What’s on your mind?’ box I type ‘Headed back to the Rock in 5 days!’ and then click ‘Share’.
Matlida:
“Yeah I know I can’t wait,” my voice squeaks with glee. In five days I will be back at the U of R. I’ll get to see my roommate Tami and our friend Sandy, not to mention all the other crazy people we know that make living there a blast.
“Next week is going to be fucking awesome. Are you packing alcohol?”
“Of course I am. Tami do you know me at all?”
“Oh right. Well I was just checking Mattie.”
I tuck the phone into the crook of my neck so I can fold the shirt I’m holding. “What about you? Are you bringing any?”
“No. Unlike your mom my parents won’t buy me alcohol.”
“Haha, oh yeah that’s right.”
“Shut up.”
I lay the shirt in my suitcase and pick up another one. It’s royal blue with a small fist sized circle on the top right corner. In the circle is a tiger on its hind legs and going around the outside of the circle are the words ‘University of Rochester Shotokan Karate’.
Jason:
Kelsey and I are sitting out on the dock in front of her grandparents’ house. I have my pants rolled up to my knees and my feet dangling in the cold water. Her head is against my shoulder and my right hand is lightly holding her waist.
“I can’t believe you’re leaving next week,” she whispers.
I place my left hand on her legs which are lying across my lap. “I’m only going to Rochester. I’ll be home all the time to see you.”
“This year is going to be so different without you.”
“You’ll still hang out with Haley and Vicki. We never had class together anyway. Trust me, it won’t be that different.”
“But I won’t see you after school or after practice, and you won’t come over for Tuesday dinners, and no more late night AIM chats.”
“Who says we can’t AIM chat anymore?”
“You’ll be off partying or studying or something.”
“Kelse, look at me,” she tips her head and stares up into my eyes, “I love you.” Gently I kiss her forehead. “You are the most important thing in my life. You’re the reason I’m even going to college. You’re the reason I stuck around and even graduated from high school.”
Her fingers start to play with the collar of my shirt as she averts her eyes from mine. “What about the guys? You had soccer, you didn’t need me to stick around, you had a life worth staying for.”
I shake my head and take her hand in mine. “No, I really didn’t. What I had was an abusive drunk father and team mates who thought I was normal and happy.” A seagull flies overhead, casting a shadow across my legs in the water. I look out over the lake to the crowded shoreline opposite us. There are so many houses I can barely make out a single piece of green lawn. The calm breeze finds a burst of strength and flutters the bangs off of my forehead. “You’re my beautiful flower,” I whisper in her ear.
She smiles and softly sings back, “and you can count on me to carry you until you carry on.”
Shawn:
Standing in Zach’s driveway, I watch his red Escape drive away down the road. He’s off to Suffolk. Next week I’ll be leaving myself for Rochester NY. I’m scared to leave my small rural town and go to a city. Losing Zach is scary too, but it was a mutual decision. Trying to maintain a long distance relationship and deal with all of the new changes seemed too daunting. Still, standing here and watching him go, I’m starting to regret our decision. He means so much to me. Maybe that’s a bad thing though. It’s almost like dating him was starting to define who I was.
Zach’s brother Mikey looks up from my leg, which his little arms are wrapped around. “How long til he comes back Shawn?”
“I don’t know Mikey,” I go back to watching the Escape and whisper to myself, “I don’t know.”
